1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a dish container convenient for washing or rinsing dishes such as plates, bowls and others, which have been accommodated after used in, for example, the institution to provide meals.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In meal service systems for attempting to serve large number of people, typically, in the systems installed in institutions to provide food or meal in schools, hospitals or corporations, the tableware such as dishes, trays and the others has been conventionally washed accommodated racks, containers, baskets or the like. The prior art of the dish-washing systems have been disclosed in, for example, Published Unexamined Applications in Japan Nos.(Shou)50-663, (Hei)3-10 932 and (Hei)5-269 073; Published Unexamined Utility Model Applications in Japan Nos.(Hei)2-112 251 and (Hei)3-10 847; and Published Examined Utility Model Application in Japan No.(Hei)3-10 932.
With the prior dish containers such as baskets used in, for example, a dishwasher having nozzles to jet or spray out cleaning liquid or warm water, it is preferred to hold therein dishware in a relation that any two adjacent dishes are spaced apart away from each other to allow the cleaning liquid to wash the dishes thoroughly to thereby help ensure the reliable washing performance. To deal with this, most prior dish containers have fingers and partitions to space the adjacent dishes apart from away from one another. Of the citations described just above, Published Examined Utility Model Application in Japan No.(Hei)3-10 932 and Published Unexamined Utility Model Applications in Japan No.(Hei)3-10 847 may be referred to. With prior dish containers of this type, a service personnel in a cafeteria has been plagued with a troublesome task of accommodating soiled dishes once by one in each divided compartment in the container.
In contrast, as will be seen from the above cited Published Unexamined Applications in Japan No.(Hei)5-269 073, an integrated system has been proposed in which the dishes remain accommodated in the containers during not only treatment at the meal processing station but also delivery from the processing station to serveries, which are customers, or schools in school meal system. In accordance with this prior integrated system for delivering meals, the tableware is carried from the meal processing station to the school, with being accommodated in groups at every class of the school in the conventional type of containers having the fingers and partitions as cited above. Every student or child returns his own soiled dishes into each compartment in the containers after a meal. Following conveyance of the soiled dishes with the container to the meal processing station, an operator charges the containers remained accommodating therein the soiled dishes into the dishwasher, with not having to touch any soiled dish, in which the soiled dishes are washed. After the completion of washing, the clean dishes stay accommodated in the containers for a meal next day. Moreover, Published Unexamined Application in Japan No.(Hei)8-72 872 discloses a basket suitable for the integrated system explained above, in which stainless rods define each compartment for individual dish.
With the integrated meal service system of the type described above, the soiled dishes or bowls are carried into the compartments in the containers, one to each compartment, by every customer, or student or child, in such a manner that the any adjoining soiled dishes are arranged spaced apart away from each other for efficient washing. Then, containers accommodating therein the soiled dishes are returned to the meal processing station, where the soiled dishes remaining held in the containers are put into the dishwasher so that the operators may carry out the washing of the dishes in the containers with no touch of the soiled dishes. The dishes washed away from soiling are conveyed, with having remained accommodated in the containers, from the meal processing station to the schools. Consequently, the tableware may be repeatedly carried in remaining held in the containers for reuse between the meal processing station and the schools. It will be thus said that the integrated meal service system is very superior in sanitation because the operators do not touch the tableware with their hands throughout the operations on washing at the meal processing station and the conveyance between the processing station and the institutions such as schools.
Nevertheless, the conventional containers such as baskets as described above are designed to provide many compartments defined with the fingers or partitions, where the tableware is contained, one to each compartment, spaced apart away from each other with a preselected interval. This makes the container bulky in volume compared with the dishes only stacked up one on top of another, resulting in disadvantages of requiring heavy vehicles, or heavy trucks, to convey the containers packed with the dishes from the meal processing station to the schools and vice versa, and also requiring large open space to stock the containers ready for next use.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide a dish container expansible in a space between any adjacent dishes accommodated in the container.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a dish container capable of expanding a space between any adjacent dishes on washing event while reducing the space between any adjacent dishes on conveyance and/or storage event where the container is required to be made less in volume.
In an aspect of the present invention to cope with the objects described above, a dish container is disclosed, comprising U-shaped frame members arranged in juxtaposition to define dish-accommodating spaces to receive therein dishes, paired link members connected to sidewise opposing portions of the U-shaped frame members and also connected any adjacent U-shaped frame member to close up an d separate away any two adjacent U-shape frame members with respect to each other, support plates extending between the paired link members, paired lugs provided at sidewise opposing upper ends of the U-shaped frame members to extend into the dish-accommodating spaces, wherein any clearance between any two adjacent lugs when the U-shaped frame members come in close contact with each other is substantially equal to a clearance between any two adjoining rims of stacked dishes to be accommodated in the dish container, and wherein any dish in the associated dish-accommodating space comes at its outer surface in engagement with an edge of the adjoining support plate and also at its rim in engagement with the lugs, and further comes at its rim in abutment against another support plate ahead of the dish, whereby the dishes received in the dish-accommodating spaces move apart from each other when the U-shaped frame members are separated from each other and, in contrast, move in close contact with each other when the U-shaped frame members are brought into contact with each other.
In another aspect of the present invention to deal with the above-mentioned objects, a dish container is disclosed, comprising U-shaped frame members arranged in juxtaposition to define dish-accommodating spaces to receive therein dishes, a pair of sidewise opposing upper link members and a pair of sidewise opposing lower link members connected to sidewise opposing portions of the U-shaped frame members and also connected any adjacent U-shaped frame member to close up and separate away any two adjacent U-shape frame members with respect to each other, support plates extending between the paired sidewise opposing lower link members, paired lugs provided ate sidewise opposing upper ends of the U-shaped frame members and/or the upper link members to extend into the dish-accommodating spaces, wherein any clearance between any two adjacent lugs when the U-shaped frame members come in close contact with each other is substantially equal to a clearance between any two adjoining rims of stacked dishes to be accommodated in the dish container, and wherein any dish in the associated dish-accommodating space comes at its outer surface in engagement with an edge of the adjoining support plate and also at its rim in engagement with the lugs, and further comes at its rim in abutment against another support plate ahead of the dish, whereby the dishes received in the dish-accommodating spaces move apart from each other when the U-shaped frame members are separated from each other and, in contrast, move in close contact with each other when the U-shaped frame members are brought into contact with each other.
In another aspect of the present invention to deal with the objects described above, a dish container is disclosed, comprising U-shaped frame members arranged in juxtaposition to define dish-accommodating spaces to receive therein dishes, the U-shaped frame members being made so high as to conceal entirely the dishes in the dish-accommodating spaces, paired link members connected to sidewise opposing portions of the U-shaped frame members and also connected any adjacent U-shaped frame member to close up and separate away any two adjacent U-shape frame members with respect to each other, support plates extending between the paired link members, paired lugs provided at sidewise opposing upper ends of the U-shaped frame members to extend into the dish-accommodating spaces, latch means embracing the overall U-shaped frame members to keep the U-shaped frame members on a state where the U-shaped frame members come in close contact with each other, and stopper means to obstruct open sides of the U-shaped frame members to keep the dishes against falling off from the dish accommodating spaces where the dishes are received, wherein any clearance between any two adjacent lugs when the U-shaped frame members come in close contact with each other is substantially equal to a clearance between any two adjoining rims of stacked dishes to be accommodated in the dish container, and wherein any dish in the associated dish-accommodating space comes at its outer surface in engagement with an edge of the adjoining support plate and also at its rim in engagement with the lugs, and further comes at its rim in abutment against another support plate ahead of the dish, whereby the dishes received in the dish-accommodating spaces move apart from each other when the U-shaped frame members are separated from each other and, in contrast, move in close contact with each other when the U-shaped frame members are brought into contact with each other.
In a further another aspect of the present invention to cope with the objects described above, a dish container is disclosed, comprising U-shaped frame members arranged in juxtaposition to define dish-accommodating spaces to receive therein dishes, the U-shaped frame members being made so high as to conceal entirely the dishes in the dish-accommodating spaces, a pair of sidewise opposing upper link members and a pair of sidewise opposing lower link members connected to sidewise opposing portions of the U-shaped frame members and also connected any adjacent U-shaped frame member to close up and separate away any two adjacent U-shape frame members with respect to each other, support plates extending between the paired sidewise opposing lower link members, paired lugs provided at any one of sidewise opposing upper ends of the U-shaped frame members and the upper link members to extend into the dish-accommodating spaces, latch means embracing the overall U-shaped frame members to keep the U-shaped frame members on a state where the U-shaped frame members come in close contact with each other, and stopper means to obstruct open sides of the U-shaped frame members to keep the dishes against falling off from the dish-accommodating spaces where the dishes are received, wherein any clearance between any two adjacent lugs when the U-shaped frame members come in close contact with each other is substantially equal to a clearance between any two adjoining rims of stacked dishes to be accommodated in the dish container, and wherein any dish in the associated dish-accommodating space comes at its outer surface in engagement with an edge of the adjoining support plate and also at its rim in engagement with the lugs, and further comes at its rim in abutment against another support plate ahead of the dish, whereby the dishes received in the dish-accommodating spaces move apart from each other when the U-shaped frame members are separated from each other and, in contrast, move in close contact with each other when the U-shaped frame members are brought into contact with each other.
Other objects and features of the present invention will be more apparent to those skilled in the art on consideration of the accompanying drawings and following specification wherein are disclosed preferred embodiments of the invention with the understanding that such variations, modifications and elimination of parts may be made therein as fall within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.